Carrboro police charge men with vehicle-related crimes

Police charged two men this week with a string of crimes in which vehicles were set on fire, broken into and stolen near downtown Carrboro early on Friday, June 3.

Residents called 911 to report three cars on fire, two break-ins and one stolen vehicle between 1:30 and 4 a.m. June 3, according to reports. Carrboro police and the Carrboro Fire Department responded to the calls, all of which occurred near the intersection of Jones Ferry Road and Laurel Avenue.

A 911 caller also reported a breaking and entering in progress around 1:30 a.m. at University Lake Apartments, 200 Barnes St.

The incidents followed another 911 call around 12:44 a.m. about shots being fired at The Crest apartment complex, at 200 N.C. 54. Officers found three vehicles damaged by bullets, a report stated. Carrboro police Lt. Landis Cannady said that case was not related to this week’s arrests.

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Police charged Christopher Orellana, 19, of 501 Jones Ferry Road, Apt. G9, Carrboro, with two felony counts of breaking or entering, and two felony counts of larceny after breaking or entering, according to court records.

Court records show Orellana also was charged with driving while impaired, driving after consuming alcohol under age 21, two counts of not having an operator’s license, reckless driving and possession of a Schedule VI controlled substance. He was charged while in the Orange County Jail with four counts of failure to appear in court on earlier charges, records show.

Orellana was released from the jail after posting $15,000 bail.

The second man, Gerardo Arturo Rodriguez-Arriaga, 21, of 501 Jones Ferry Road, Apt. N4, Carrboro, was charged with five felony counts of breaking or entering to a vehicle, two felony counts of larceny after breaking and entering, and two counts of attempted first-degree arson, court records show.

He also was charged, according to court records, with three counts of burning of personal property, one count of larceny of an automobile, two counts of misdemeanor larceny, three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, communicating threats, possessing a Schedule VI controlled substance, possessing marijuana paraphernalia, two felony counts of breaking and entering, consuming alcohol while under the age of 19 or 20, and obtaining alcohol with a false driver’s license.

Cannady said some of the charges date to incidents that were reported in February and March. Rodriguez-Arriaga is being held in the Orange County Jail under a $100,000 secured bond.